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According to Herodotus, Persians invented crucifixion, and the Romans perfected it. Ancients agree that crucifixion was the most obscene, the most disgraceful, and the most horrific execution known to man. As soldiers led Jesus out to crucify Him, they forced an African named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross. Matthew 27 tells us that when they came to the place called Golgotha, they offered him a painkilling drink of wine mixed with gall but He refused to drink it. After nailing him to the cross, “the soldiers gambled for his clothes, then sat around and kept guard as he hung there.” They fastened a sign above his head that read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right, and one on his left. People who passed by shouted abuse; they shook their heads in mockery. “Look at you now! They yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross.” Why did Jesus submit to such a horrific death? Here is what Isaiah wrote, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaac Watts captured how we should respond: He wrote, “Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.”
